COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATuRDAY, DECEmBER 4, 2021
Woman not happy with her life at common milestone
began rejecting men who showed
signs of wanting only a sexual
relationship, and now I seem to
have no takers at all. The fact
that I have gained weight hasn’t
helped, either. It’s not like once I
meet a guy the first thing I say is,
“Hey, I want a meaningful rela-
tionship.” I’m beginning to worry
that something is wrong with me.
What should I do? — THIRTY
BUT NOT FLIRTY
DEAR THIRTY: There is
nothing wrong with you, just as
there is nothing wrong with get-
ting to know someone before
embarking on a physical rela-
tionship. (In fact, I recommend
it.) However, to eliminate a man
because you think he “only” is
interested in having sex with you
was jumping the gun.
DEAR ABBY: For years, I’ve
heard about what and where a
woman “should” be in her life
once she turns the big 3-0. She
should have a thriving career, be
married with kids — or at least
engaged — and have a full sense
of her worth and knowledge.
I recently turned the big 3-0,
but my cards aren’t all stacked
that way. I have never had a
romantic relationship. Most of
the men I wanted to start one
with only wanted sex with me,
and a relationship with someone
else. As I entered my late 20s, I
gave him a large surprise party
for his 40th birthday.
Abby, this whole time, nobody
has thrown me a party or planned
a celebration centered on me. I’m
lucky to get a last-minute, store-
bought cake and a dinner out on
my birthday. Our 50th birthdays
are coming up in a few months,
and friends and family are asking
what I’m planning for him, but
nobody says anything about
mine.
I resent that these people,
including Asher, take me for
granted, and I’m considering dig-
ging in my heels on party plan-
ning this time around. I have
told Asher that maybe it’s about
time somebody planned ME a
party, but he doesn’t seem to
get it. Have you any advice for
I wish you had mentioned
where you were meeting men.
You may have better luck if you
figure out what interests you have
in common with the men you
meet, and develop relationships
based on them. And, because
you suspect the weight you have
gained may have something to
do with your problem, resolve
to become involved in physical
activities that will get you out
of the house and into an envi-
ronment where you’ll not only
get some exercise, but also meet
some eligible prospects.
DEAR ABBY: I’ve been mar-
ried to my husband, “Asher,” for
20 years, and during our mar-
riage, I have always been the
person who plans and throws
birthday parties, including his. I
me? I like a nice celebration, but
I’m tired of being the one doing
all the work without reciproca-
tion. — PARTY GIRL IN THE
SOUTH
DEAR PARTY GIRL: While
you can’t control how other
people behave, there is nothing
wrong with enlisting some “help”
in your planning. Express your
feelings (again) to your self-in-
volved husband and also to the
friends and relatives who have
enjoyed your hospitality for so
long without reciprocating. Plan
the party for Asher, and if your
birthday is again ignored, plan
something special you might like
with your closest friends — pref-
erably, out of town — and follow
through. I think you are entitled,
don’t you?
WHO says measures used against delta should work for omicron
told reporters at a briefing
on Dec. 3.
China has adopted a
zero-tolerance policy toward
COVID-19 transmission
and has some of the world’s
strictest border controls.
Games participants will
have to live and compete
inside a bubble, and only
spectators who are residents
of China and have been vac-
cinated and tested will be
permitted at venues.
Globally, cases have been
increasing for seven consec-
utive weeks and the number
of deaths has started to rise
again, too, driven largely
by the delta variant and
decreased use of protective
measures in other parts of
the world, Kasai said.
“We should not be sur-
prised to see more surges in
the future. As long as trans-
mission continues, the virus
can continue to mutate, as
the emergence of omicron
demonstrates, reminding us
of the need to stay vigilant,”
Kasai said.
He warned especially
about the likelihood of
surges due to more gath-
erings and movement of
people during the holiday
season. The northern winter
season will also likely bring
other infectious respiratory
diseases, such as the flu,
alongside COVID-19.
“It is clear that this pan-
demic is far from over and
I know that people are wor-
ried about omicron,” Kasai
said. “But my message today
is that we can adapt the way
we manage this virus to
better cope with the future
surges and reduce their
health, social and economic
impacts.”
By JIM GOMEZ
The Associated Press
MANILA, Philip-
pines — Measures used to
counter the delta variant
should remain the founda-
tion for fighting the coro-
navirus pandemic, even in
the face of the new omicron
version of the virus, World
Health Organization officials
said Friday, Dec. 3, while
acknowledging that the
travel restrictions imposed
by some countries may buy
time.
While about three dozen
countries worldwide have
reported omicron infections,
including India on Dec. 2,
the numbers so far are small
outside of South Africa,
which is facing a rapid rise
in COVID-19 cases and
where the new variant may
be becoming dominant.
Still, much remains unclear
about omicron, including
whether it is more con-
tagious, as some health
authorities suspect, whether
it makes people more seri-
ously ill, or whether it can
evade vaccine protection.
“Border control can delay
the virus coming in and buy
time. But every country
and every community must
prepare for new surges in
cases,” Dr. Takeshi Kasai,
the WHO regional director
for the Western Pacific, told
reporters Friday during a
virtual news conference
from the Philippines. “The
positive news in all of this
is that none of the informa-
tion we have currently about
omicron suggests we need to
change the directions of our
response.”
That means continuing
Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press
A traveler arrives to enter into a COVID-19 testing center at the Incheon International Airport In Incheon, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 1,
2021. South Korea’s daily jump in coronavirus infections exceeded 5,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic, as a delta-driven
surge also pushed hospitalizations and deaths to record highs.
to push for higher vacci-
nation rates, abiding by
social-distancing guide-
lines, and wearing masks,
among other measures, said
WHO Regional Emergency
Director Dr. Babatunde
Olowokure.
He added that health sys-
tems must “ensure we are
treating the right patients
in the right place at the
right time, and so therefore
ensuring that ICU beds are
available, particularly for
those who need them.”
Kasai warned: “We
cannot be complacent.”
WHO has previously
urged against border clo-
sures, noting they often have
limited effect and can cause
major disruptions. Officials
in southern Africa, where
the omicron variant was
first identified, have decried
restrictions on travelers from
the region, saying they are
being punished for alerting
the world to the mutant
strain.
Scientists are working
furiously to learn more
about omicron, which has
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
have found the variant in the
region are Australia, Hong
Kong, Japan, South Korea,
Singapore and Malaysia —
and it is likely to crop up
elsewhere.
The emergence of omi-
cron is of particular concern
for organizers of the Bei-
jing Winter Olympic Games,
now about two months away.
Beijing is adopting a
series of measures to reduce
the risk the virus will spread
during the Games, Zhao
Weidong, spokesperson for
the organizing committee,
been designated a variant
of concern because of the
number of mutations and
because early information
suggests it may be more
transmissible than other
variants, Kasai said.
A few countries in the
Western Pacific region are
facing surges that began
before omicron was iden-
tified, though COVID-19
cases and deaths in many
others have decreased or pla-
teaued, Kasai said. But that
could change.
Among the places that
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
37/47
Kennewick
33/46
St. Helens
32/45
34/45
35/45
38/48
37/47
32/45
Condon
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
Showers of rain
and snow
Turning cloudy
and colder
Periods of rain
Times of sun
and clouds
A rain or snow
shower
28 38 24
37 13
32 18
35 19
Eugene
0
2
0
36/47
39 17
37 30
39 28
0
3
1
La Grande
2
31 38 29
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
3
1
3
26 35 24
Comfort Index™
2
36 19
37 30
1
3
0
ALMANAC
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High: 87°
Low: 7°
Wettest: 1.08”
50°
23°
57°
35°
58°
37°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Thursday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
0.00
0.00
0.06
5.01
8.27
0.00
0.00
0.15
9.98
15.67
0.00
0.00
0.29
22.04
22.47
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
40%
NNW at 4 to 8 mph
0.8
0.04
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
N.A.
16% of capacity
14% of capacity
11% of capacity
11% of capacity
8% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Thursday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
1060 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
0 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
16 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
98 cfs
Minam River at Minam
156 cfs
Powder River near Richland
13 cfs
Ocotillo Wells, Calif.
Angel Fire, N.M.
Clayton, Maine
OREGON
High: 64°
Low: 20°
Wettest: 0.10”
Rome
Lakeview
Astoria
WEATHER HISTORY
On Dec. 4, 1995, a rare severe thunder-
storm formed over the Black Hills of South
Dakota which produced 2-inch-diameter
hail and wind gusts to 60 mph.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
7:15 a.m.
4:10 p.m.
7:52 a.m.
4:30 p.m.
SUN.
7:16 a.m.
4:10 p.m.
9:09 a.m.
5:29 p.m.
MOON PHASES
First
Dec 10
Full
Dec 18
Last
Dec 26
New
Jan 2
36/47
Beaver Marsh
24/47
Roseburg
41/56
Brothers
36/47
Coos Bay
41/49
Burns
Jordan Valley
32/44
Paisley
27/48
Frenchglen
34/47
Klamath Falls
25/49
Hi/Lo/W
47/40/c
51/36/c
47/31/pc
59/44/pc
46/25/pc
51/38/pc
48/37/c
41/25/pc
36/27/c
47/37/c
45/35/c
45/37/c
39/33/c
41/32/c
34/25/c
46/35/c
49/28/pc
50/25/pc
Hi/Lo/W
48/38/r
48/32/r
42/22/sh
53/42/r
46/18/sh
55/43/r
49/36/r
36/16/sn
38/18/sn
52/40/r
45/27/sh
45/36/r
43/23/sn
44/28/sn
40/18/sn
41/29/sh
46/25/sh
46/23/sh
Grand View
Arock
34/47
34/49
Lakeview
25/50
McDermitt
29/47
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Diamond
34/43
34/47
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
MON.
Boise
36/47
Fields
39/50
SUN.
34/46
Silver Lake
28/50
Medford
Brookings
Juntura
29/46
39/54
45/59
Ontario
34/51
25/48
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Huntington
30/39
35/51
Oakridge
31/41
33/46
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
THURSDAY EXTREMES
High Thursday
Low Thursday
33/41
34/51
Council
28/38
John Day
32/49
Sisters
Florence
Powers
30/40
27/35
Baker City
Redmond
36/48
39/52
Halfway
Granite
32/48
Newport
38/51
Comfort Index takes into account how the weather will feel based on a combination of factors. A rating of 10 feels
very comfortable while a rating of 0 feels very uncomfortable.
31/41
32/47
35/48
38/49
39 17
2
Corvallis
Enterprise
26/35
31/38
Monument
33/44
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
Comfort Index™
Elgin
31/36
La Grande
31/40
Maupin
Baker City
32/40
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
34/51
34/40
Hood River
33/41
TIllamook
Lewiston
Walla Walla
34/46
Vancouver
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
SUN.
MON.
Hi/Lo/W
40/32/c
46/36/c
36/28/c
50/38/c
48/40/pc
42/35/c
51/28/c
46/34/c
41/31/c
47/40/pc
56/41/pc
49/32/c
49/40/c
48/40/c
34/27/c
48/37/c
36/27/c
40/33/c
Hi/Lo/W
40/28/sn
44/33/r
38/14/sn
49/39/r
51/40/r
41/30/r
43/20/sh
40/28/sh
43/23/sn
50/38/r
55/45/r
50/28/r
53/40/r
50/38/r
33/19/sn
47/36/sh
37/17/sn
39/25/sn
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Turning cloudy
Turning cloudy
25
20
37
27
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Colder
Turning cloudy
29
26
44
32
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Turning cloudy
Colder
26
17
33
23
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Colder
Cooler
34
25
41
31
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Colder
Colder
38
24
38
29